A Potion Mishap
by Saruvi
Summary: Tsuzuki asks Hisoka to marry him, meanwhile, Hisoka unkowningly becomes a test subject for Watari's newest potion.
1. Hunger Pains

**Disclaimer:** Yami no Matsuei and the characters Hisoka Kurosaki, Asato Tsuzuki, and other YnM characters are the property of Yoko Matsushita, though this is the cause for the need of therapy.

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Hisoka was hungry. He had brought a salad to eat for lunch that morning and decided on eating it quietly in his office. Rummaging in the break room's fridge, he latched onto the container holding his salad, though, he couldn't seem to find the small container holding the dressing he had brought along.

Pushing things aside in the fridge, he searched for the container. Giving a mental sigh when he finally located the container holding his dressing, he was distracted by Watari entering the break room with a cheery "Hey Bon!" which accounted for the reason he didn't realize the container he had grabbed a hold of, though similar to his, wasn't actually the one he had brought with him that morning.

"Hey Watari," Hisoka replied, sitting down in one of the chairs and pouring the dressing over his salad. He was so hungry he didn't feel like going to his office to eat, so he stayed in the breakroom. He happily dug in. Gods, he was so hungry. The dressing tasted different to him, but it was actually quite good, so he just kept eating.

Watari's eyes narrowed while he watched Hisoka pour the contents of the small container onto his salad. He had the urge, a small one, to tell Hisoka that he was pouring his latest potion into his salad bowl, but he thought that this experiment could turn out better than he hoped for. Watari hid his smirk.

Though, if, no not if, _when_ Hisoka found out that Watari _knowingly_ watched him eat a potion of his, he knew he would wish for a second death. The kid could be mean when it suited him and Watari, having seen Tsuzuki on the other end of Hisoka's wrath quite a few times didn't really relish the thought of himself switching places with Tsuzuki when Hisoka found out about this.

That day was strange as Hisoka kept feeling as though something inside his body was snapping. But not like bones breaking or anything painful like that. It was a strange feeling like, things inside himself were _moving_ and _shifting_. He shrugged it off to weariness over their latest case which involved trying to locate the soul of a girl who had fallen in the bathtub and cracked her head. She died of blood loss.

They went to Chijou searching for the girl's soul in her apartment but she wasn't there. The girl, Hasumi Ayami, was a 19 year old artist who was working on paintings for an upcoming exhibit at a local art gallery.

"The file said the girl had a small studio where she painted. Maybe we should check that out?" Hisoka suggested as the two shinigami walked down the stairs from the girl's empty apartment building.

"Couldn't hurt. Let's go," Tsuzuki replied.

They found the girl in her studio, draped over a half finished painting of what looked like water lilies in a pond of koi, there was blood splattered on the painting and tears mixed with each drop as the girl sobbed.

"Wh.. who a-are you two?" Ayami asked, her voice choking on her tears.

"We're shinigami. We came to help you pass on. I'm Asato Tsuzuki and this is my partner, Hisoka Kurosaki," Tsuzuki said kindly, so as not to scare the girl anymore than she already was.

"I-I didn't mean it. It was an accident. I don't want to be dead!" the girl wailed.

Hisoka stood quietly off to the side, letting his partner deal with the girl's sorrow. It was getting to be too much for his empathy to take in and his head was stinging with the beginnings of a headache.

"I know. But you still need to move on from this plane of existance," Tsuzuki told her gently. Kneeling down next to the girl, he placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture.

An hour later, the girl had agreed to move on, seeming to come to terms with her death, accident or not. Her soul dissipated and Hisoka felt the tension in his shoulders leave as his head seemed to calm down from the absence of the girl's emotions.

They headed to a small restaurant to grab a quick lunch before heading back to the office to write up their report. Or for _Hisoka_ to write up their report while his partner stole a nap at his desk.


	2. A Question For The Heart

Laying in bed together that night, Tsuzuki's arms wrapped around Hisoka's smaller frame, with the boy's head resting on his shoulder, he thought maybe now would be a good time to ask Hisoka a question he had been trying to find the right moment to ask for over a week. There just never seemed to be a 'right' or a 'perfect' moment.

Sighing, he thought 'now or never.' He hoped the answer was favorable. Afterall, they had been living together for over a year and a half, and dating for more than six months. He knew Hisoka loved him. But he didn't know if the boy was ready to turn their relationship into a more serious commitment. Well, more serious than it already was that is.

"Hisoka? You awake?" He softly asked in the semi-darkness of their bedroom. They now shared a bedroom in the two bedroom apartment they had. Tsuzuki had moved into Hisoka's room after the night they had finally confessed their feelings for each other.

Hisoka had turned Tsuzuki's room into a semi den/library where he could read and just relax away from the noise of the tv in the living room whenever he needed personal quiet time. Which, he noted he usually didn't feel a need for. Since he usually didn't feel like being without Tsuzuki by his side. Mostly, the room was unused, due to the fact that whenever Tsuzuki watched tv, Hisoka was usually curled up in the older man's lap reading a book. So the room was pretty much a storage room.

"Hmm, sort of," the boy replied.

"I want to ask you something. You don't have to feel that I'm pressuring you or anything. You can even say no and I will understand. I won't be angry if you do. I just think, it would be nice to do. For us. Sort of a tangible bonding of our relationship and the way we feel for one another," Tsuzuki rushed out so fast, Hisoka almost didn't catch all of it. He raised his head to look at his lover. Taking Tsuzuki's chin in his hand, he turned the older man's face so he could look him in the eyes.

"What are you trying to say Asato?"

"Marry me Hisoka," Tsuzuki said carefully, when he heard Hisoka gasp sharply, he quickly added, "I love you so much. I want to marry you."

Hisoka was now fully awake. Infact, he couldn't have slept if he were sedated. He could sense Tsuzuki's worry growing steadily the longer it took for him to reply to his question. He could see Tsuzuki's amethyst eyes searching his emerald green counterparts for any sign of refusal or acceptance.

"Are you sure? I mean, are you really sure you want me enough to marry me?" Hisoka asked stupidly. It really was a stupid question, after everything they had said and done together. Why was he asking that now? Was he so afraid that the man he loved wouldn't want to marry him? Of course not. He was just being stupid. The man loved him. Hisoka mentally smacked himself for having allowed that small twinge of fear to creep into him.

Tears started to glisten in the corners of Hisoka's amazing eyes. Tsuzuki squeezed him gently.

"Are your eyes green? Of course I'm sure! I want to marry you Soka," Tsuzuki pushed himself up so he was leaning against the headboard. He pulled Hisoka up to lean against his chest. Their eyes locked as Tsuzuki moved forward to press his lips softly to Hisoka's forehead. "I really want to marry you. I love you."

Hisoka knew Tsuzuki loved him. Though, it still sent a warm rush to his heart whenever he heard the amethyst eyed man say the words. And he loved Tsuzuki. More than anything. He wanted to be with this man always. He should have known the older shinigami would eventually want this. Afterall, it was a natural progression in a relationship like the one they shared. If he were to be completely honest with himself, he would have to say he also wanted this.

Hisoka's emerald gems searched Tsuzuki's amethyst ones for any sign that this was a dream. Something this good couldn't be real. Only in his dreams did stuff like this happen to him. Though, when thinking over the past few years, things like this happened more and more frequently to him. Such was life when you were with the one you loved more than anything. He mentally smacked himself again. Of course it's not a dream silly, he chided to himself.

"Yes," He murmured against Tsuzuki's lips, "I will marry you. I love you so much Asato. I'm so happy with you. How could you even think I would refuse?" He leaned in to capture Tsuzuki's mouth with his own. His tongue darting out to slip past the opening in Tsuzuki's lips as the man had smiled after hearing Hisoka's answer.

Hisoka slid over Tsuzuki, his legs straddling the older man. His hands coming to rest on the man's bare chest. Tsuzuki rubbed the sides of Hisoka's body with his hands as their kiss deepened and suddenly became heated.

"Mmm, want you," Hisoka murmured against his lips. Tsuzuki's pulse sped up and he slowly slid down the headboard to lay his head on his pillow, Hisoka's body still straddling him. Hisoka brought his hands down to the waistband of Tsuzuki's boxers, slowly sliding his fingers under the elastic band, tugging at them. Tsuzuki lifted his hips slightly so Hisoka could push the cotton fabric over his hips. Sliding down, he pushed the material down the older man's legs and tugged them off. Tossing them onto the floor, he stood up and removed his own clothing.

Gently, he slid back onto his lover's body, his hips moving to press their erections against one another. Tsuzuki moaned as Hisoka gasped, bringing his head down to lick and suck on the boy's neck. He leisurely trailed his mouth downwards to take one of Hisoka's nipples into his mouth. Biting gently, he quickly kissed and suckled it while his other hand came up to play with the boy's other nipple. Hisoka threw his head back, biting his lower lip to keep from screaming out in pleasure as Tsuzuki licked and kissed his heated flesh.

Hisoka was in heaven. Literally. His body was on fire. If Tsuzuki didn't take him soon, he would burst into flames, and then they would need to buy a new mattress. Possibly get a new apartment from the amount of heat radiating within his body from Tsuzuki's ministrations on his flesh.

"Asato, please.. I.. can't take.. anymore. Please... no more teasing," Hisoka ground out through clenched teeth.

"mou, but I like teasing you Soka-chan," Tsuzuki stated lazily.

"Don't call me that," the boy said, not really angry at the use of the nickname he hated. Tsuzuki chuckled as the boy thrust his hips towards his partner's to grind against his throbbing erection, showing him just how much he wanted the older man. As his breath began to come in quick pants, he quickly added, "Need you now. Can't wait. Don't wanna wait."

"Gomen koibito," Tsuzuki whispered, as he slid a hand around his lover's body to gently probe at his entrance. "We need something." Tsuzuki stopped toying at the entrance and held out of his hand.

He smiled as Hisoka nodded his head then reached over to rummage in the nightstand drawer. Pulling out a tube of hand cream, he opened the lid and squeezed a bit onto the fingers Tsuzuki held up for him. Then the older shinigami returned his fingers to the boy's opening, gently sliding a finger inside the tight cavern.

Hisoka's eyes slid closed as he moaned at the feeling, gasping as Tsuzuki slid another finger inside him, pressing his fingers inside the younger shinigami. The boy moaned as a third finger was added, not caring how loud he got, he let out a gasp, then a breathy "Asato," as the fingers pressed up to push against his prostate. Hisoka's body began to shake. His breathes coming in short gasps. He pressed down trying to push Tsuzuki's fingers deeper into him. Opening his eyes, he let out a disappointed groan when the man withdrew his fingers.

Positioning his hands on Hisoka's hips, Tsuzuki gently helped Hisoka raise up and slide his body down onto Tsuzuki's erection. Both shinigami moaned at the sensation of Tsuzuki entering him. Hisoka moaning at the feeling of being filled, while Tsuzuki moaned as the hot walls of Hisoka's body clenched around him.

The boy rose up and down, as Tsuzuki pulled himself into a sitting position, helping Hisoka steady himself on top of him as he rode him. Hisoka clutched at his lover's back, his nails digging into the warm flesh, but Tsuzuki didn't mind, the slight pain from the boy's nails mixed to slam into the pleasure radiating off of the two of them as their bodies melded into one. Tsuzuki reached between them to take Hisoka's swelling member into his hand, his fingers stroking up and down the boy's length. Hisoka's voice shakily murmured 'Asato' as he bounced up and down in Tsuzuki's lap. Taking him as deep as he could, but still trying to push him deeper.

Whenever they made love, it was better than the times before. It never ceased to amaze them at how much closer they could actually become. It was as though they were one person. Instead of two separate entities. One being, full of love, their voices echo'ing in the room as their passion crested in waves over them.

Hisoka's shields came down, and he was flooded with Tsuzuki's emotions as well as his own. Mixing and twisting, every emotion the two felt for each other would suddenly rise up into one massive feeling that would have smothered anyone other than these two lovers.

Feeling his body tightening as his insides plummeted in a downward spiral, a heated spike of pleasure rose from where Tsuzuki was embedded within to spread itself throughout his whole body. Making his fingernails dig into his lover's back once again and his toes curl as his body shook violently, he felt himself pushed over the cliff to soar into bliss, he cried out the older shinigami's name as he came into his lover's hand.

Hisoka felt something snap deep within him, but his passion clouded mind didn't really register what it could be. The warmth of the beautiful emerald eyed boy's seed splashing over his hand to drip down to his belly caused Tsuzuki to bury his face in Hisoka's neck as his climax hit him squarely with a rush and he came buried deep within the boy.

Tsuzuki collapsed back onto the bed, dragging a limp Hisoka with him. The boy was completely sated. He was slowly reigning in his emotions and he groaned when Tsuzuki pulled out of him slowly. Hisoka rolled to the side off of his sweaty lover, who was breathing as erratically as he was.

The edges of Hisoka's empathy were frayed from where his shields had collapsed and he was too exhausted to rebuild them at the moment. He felt the bed shift as Tsuzuki got up and walked to the bathroom. He heard the water as it was turned on and began filling the tub.

Tsuzuki walked back into the bedroom just as Hisoka was drifting to sleep. The older man smiled down at the boy and whispered, "Soka, we need to take a bath. We're really messy." To which Hisoka mumbled something that sounded like "Hnnn." He was too languid to move so he didn't resist when he felt himself being lifted by Tsuzuki, then gently placed into the tub against Tsuzuki's chest.

Something seemed 'off' inside Hisoka as Tsuzuki washed him. Gently running the washcloth along his body to clean him up. He sighed as he felt Tsuzuki's hands massaging shampoo into his soft hair. It seemed as though his insides were snapping into something else. Though he dismissed it as it didn't make sense and there was no pain.

Tsuzuki stood up bringing a half asleep Hisoka with him and wrapped the younger shinigami in a fluffy towel and carrying him into the bedroom. He sat the boy on the bed while he towel dried him and pulled a nightshirt over the boy's head. Gently laying a kiss on Hisoka's lips, he was surprised to feel him respond softly to the pressure of his lips. The boy wrapped his arms around Tsuzuki's neck as the older man laid them both down on the bed. Pulling the blanket up over them both, he held Hisoka in his arms and smiled as the boy cuddled closer, his breath evening out as he fell asleep. Tsuzuki quietly followed him to sleep.


	3. It Can't Be That

Just great, Hisoka Kurosaki thought to himself as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. He was sick, again. He couldn't keep anything down. Nothing he ate lasted long in his stomach. He had been sick for almost over a month now and he didn't know why. Though, he had a sinking feeling he could have guessed what it was that was making him sick. Tsuzuki kept insisting that he go see Watari about it, but Hisoka was angry with the scientist.

He had been angry with the scientist ever since a week after he had seen him in the breakroom a little over a month ago, right before his symptoms manifested themselves, when he had noticed Watari staring at him while he had eaten his lunch. Watari was radiating something akin to curiousity, nervousness and a crazed longing while he stood and just watched Hisoka eat. Hisoka had just passed it off to the scientist being his rather weird self as usual.

Quickly brushing his teeth, again, he kept thinking that his symptoms were familiar.

I remember reading about symptoms like these in a book I read once, he thought.

Infact, he had a sneaky suspicion that Watari's potion had worked and he wanted to strangle the scientist. Hisoka was horrified to even think of the possibility that he could be... no! he couldn't be. He was a _guy_! And a dead one at that.

**_I'm going to kill Watari!_**

Dammit! Why hadn't Watari told him he was eating something he had mixed up in his lab on a whim?! How could he _let_ him eat that?! Actually, Watari hadn't come clean about the dressing until Hisoka was brought into the infirmary a week later, having fainted from nausea. When he explained about the container mishap (mishap my foot! Hisoka thought annoyed.)

After listening to Watari's story, minus what the potion was exactly, that it had all been an unfortunate mishap, Hisoka just stared at the scientist. His green eyes blinking stupidly. Then, it happened. He had tried to lunge at Watari, but Tsuzuki had held him back. To say that Hisoka had become angry was the understatement of the year. Hisoka wasn't just angry. He was absolutely livid. It seemed to Hisoka that Tsuzuki was mildy amused by this as he calmly held the boy by his shoulders so he couldn't get to do bodily harm to the scientist, much to the irritation of his younger partner.

I'm going to have to go get checked out by Watari. And then I'm going to have to tell Tsuzuki that Watari turned me into a freak. Well, more of a freak than my empathy already makes me, he sighed unhappily. But on the flip side, perhaps, he could talk Tsuzuki into helping him test just how much pain a shinigami could endure. He grinned evilly.

Done being sick, Hisoka walked into the kitchen in the apartment he shared with his partner, lover and fiance. Tsuzuki was shrugging into his black trenchcoat.

"Hey Soka? Are you alright?" Tsuzuki asked softly.

"Hmm, just a little sick," he replied. Again, he silently added, angry. He rarely got sick. So what was wrong? Why had he been sick for over a month? It isn't that. It just can't be that. I'm going to kill Watari if it is that.

"We better head into work," Tsuzuki walked over to the boy and wrapped his arms around Hisoka's shoulders. Leaning down to place a small kiss on the boy's lips, he added, "As much as I don't want to go with you being sick and all, I want to have Watari look you over."

His tone told Hisoka nothing he had to say on the subject would get him out of seeing the scientist that day. He wouldn't put it past Tsuzuki to drag him into the lab kicking and screaming if he refused to go. Might as well go like a good boy and get checked out.

Hisoka didn't want to be checked over. He was dreading the results. He knew deep down the reason he was sick. That day in the infirmary a month ago, it hadn't been until Tsuzuki had left the infirmary for a few minutes to check if it was alright to bring Hisoka home that day since he wasn't feeling well, that Watari had chosen to explain to the boy the nature of what that particuliar potion would do. Hisoka hadn't told Tsuzuki the nature of the potion as he was horrified he had eaten something like that. He didn't want to deal with Tsuzuki's reaction at the moment in time. So he had decided to wait and see if anything actually came about from the potion.

The scientist had explained that the potion had been meant for 003. Hisoka hadn't known that. Infact, the empath suspected that the scientist had made up the fact that the potion was meant for the tiny owl. It was, afterall, disguised as salad dressing! There was only one person in the whole department with a penchant for salads. So Watari had to have _known_ Hisoka would eat it. Considering his own container with the _real_ dressing in it was conviently missing from the fridge, Hisoka had little doubt that Watari had somehow planned this.

There was no doubt that in his mind that Watari had stolen Hisoka's container and replaced it with his own. Only their lids were two different shades of blue. Watari probably hoped that the two containers were so similar that the boy wouldn't see that a different container had replaced his own. And that's what had happened. Hisoka hadn't even noticed that he was using the wrong container. And the potion had tasted like salad dressing!

What kind of fool puts a, Hisoka tried not to choke on the words, but failed miserably, pregnancy potion in the breakroom where anyone, most likely Hisoka seeing as the younger shinigami had a particular liking to salads, could accidentally use it? Which is what had happened! Hisoka was getting angry again thinking about it all. He just bet Watari had this all planned. It seemed just like the sort of scheme the scientist would come up with.

_**Gods, if I weren't already dead, this would surely kill me!**_ He thought to himself as they teleported to the front steps of Ju-Oh-Cho.

The two headed to their office, with Tsuzuki making a detour to the breakroom for pastries and coffee. With the way Hisoka was feeling, he didn't want anything to do with the breakroom. He entered their small office and sat in his chair. Pulling himself up to his desk, he laid his hands on the top of the cool wood surface, then laid his head on them.

Tsuzuki bounded into the office a short time later. His mouth was full of chocolate danish but his eyes narrowed worriedly when he spotted Hisoka with his head on the desk. He swallowed the pastry quickly and walked over to his partner.

"Soka?" he asked quietly, kneeling beside the boy and gently running a hand through the boy's hair.

"Hmm, Asato. Not feeling too well again," Hisoka quietly replied. He looked terrible. Like he was about to throw up or pass out or maybe even both.

"Alright, I'm taking you to Watari now. We need to find out why you're so sick lately. No protests either!" Tsuzuki said, gently lifting the younger shinigami into his arms and walked out of the office, and headed to the scientist's lab. Hisoka didn't bother protesting. He didn't feel well enough to lift his head. He felt the need to throw up, but he held that feeling at bay as he was carried into Watari's lab.

"Bon! Tsuzuki! What brings you two here?" Watari exclaimed cheerfully, then took in the sight of a worried Tsuzuki holding a groaning Hisoka in his arms.

"Hisoka is sick Watari. He's been sick for awhile. And I want you to find out why," Tsuzuki gently Hisoka onto a bed in the connecting infirmary.

"Alright, let me draw some blood and run some tests. Bon? Does this have anything to do with that potion you mistakenly ate a month ago?" Watari involuntarily took a step back when he received a patented Hisoka Kurosaki death glare which shot from darkening emerald green eyes.

"You know damn well it does!" the boy shouted, then quickly groaned as his stomach lurched from the forcefulness of his shout. Tsuzuki looked from Watari to Hisoka, obviously confused. The word potion and ate swirled around his head. He narrowed his amethyst eyes. _What the hell was going on?_


	4. Watari, You're Dead

1While Watari took blood from Hisoka, the boy couldn't help but glare at the scientist. The little owl 003, hopped off Watari's shoulder and flew to land in Hisoka's hair. Pecking the boy's head lovingly and hooting in excitement while trying to nest herself into the golden brown strands of his hair.

Watari was doing his best to ignore the kid's death glares that were trying so hard, but failing miserably to torch the older scientist while he clicked away at his computer. Inputting all the information he needed to run a diagnosis on Hisoka, he couldn't help but let a small smile curve the corners of his mouth.

This experiment would be his best. It would go down in history. Though, considering Watari was dead, and a shinigami himself, the history it would go down in would be contained solely within Ju-Oh-Cho. Nevertheless, he was still excited. Even with the boy still shooting death glares his way.

It wasn't as though Watari had _purposefully_ made Hisoka use his potion. He just failed to stop the boy when he noticed him pouring the container's contents over his carefully prepared salad. Sure, he could have just as _easily_ said "Hey bon, that's my newest potion! Don't eat it!" But seeing as he had been excited to see the results of this particuliar potion, he had managed to keep his mouth shut. Despite knowing the consequences he would face when the boy noticed something in himself had changed.

Though Watari didn't want to know the specifics, well, alright, so maybe he did want to know the specifics, right now wasn't the time to _actually ask _about them. The boy was likely to throw something at him. And shinigami or not, he just _knew _Hisoka would choose the heaviest, thickest, whatever he could get his little pale hands on to fling his way. And he knew, that it would end up hurting. If only for a few moments. Yes, it was better to avoid the specifics at the moment.

Tsuzuki had pulled up a chair to sit beside Hisoka's bedside while Watari clicked away at his computer. The machines in the lab processing the many tests he set them up with to figure out what was ailing Hisoka. Though, both Watari and Hisoka himself could hazard a guess as to the nature of his illness, the scientist was slowly getting a bit excited to see an experiment come into fruition, while the younger man wanted to curl up and pretend all this wasn't happening.

If what he suspected was true, not only would he be a freak, he felt he would lose the one good thing in his life. His partner, best friend, lover and now fiance. Tsuzuki wouldn't necessary leave Hisoka if the test results showed what Hisoka was dreading they would come up with, he just didn't know how the amethyst eyed shinigami would take the news that his young lover and soon to be husband was having a baby.

_**Oh gods! I thought it. I keep thinking, if I don't think it, if I don't admit it's happening, then it's not really true. But that's childish. Not wanting something to happen doesn't mean it's not real.**_

_**What about my career as a shinigami? What about my afterlife? I'm a guy for kami's sake! Bad enough I'm stuck in the body of a sixteen year old for all eternity, now I'll have to deal with.. don't think about it Hisoka! It might be a false alarm you know? **_

_**Yeah right, knowing Watari, the one potion of his that'll end up succeeding will be the one I stupidly ate!**_

Hisoka felt like crying. 'No!' He told himself. 'I won't cry like a baby. I won't cry about this. Oh gods, what am I going to do? How will Tsuzuki take this if what I suspect is actually true?' The loud beeping of Watari's machines pulled Hisoka out of his thoughts. Tsuzuki jumped in his seat, and rushed over to the scientist.

"Well? What's it say? What's wrong with Hisoka?" the sugar-addict asked.

"I think," Watari began slowly, sheepishly hiding his grin for fear of emerald colored daggers shooting his way, "Congratulations are in order!"

"What do you mean Watari?" Tsuzuki asked quietly, not quite understanding. Hisoka's sharp intake of breath and low growl from his bed had Tsuzuki spinning around to run back to the younger man's side.

"Bon's having a baby!" Watari exclaimed. Apparently, he was the _only_ one happy about this news. Though, 003 hooted excitedly from her nest in Hisoka's hair. The tensing up of the boy's body suddenly made the little owl take off into the air and she flew over to land on the scientist's shoulder.

"Huh? Wha-what? How?" Tsuzuki stammered, his violet gaze switching from Watari to Hisoka and back and forth again before finally resting on Hisoka. He was in shock. How? Hisoka was a _boy_. How could he be.. how could this be... a _baby_?

He reached over to take the boy into his arms when heard a small sob escape from Hisoka. Tears streaming down his face.

"Watari! Explain!" Tsuzuki demanded, shock evident on his face, he stared at the blonde scientist who knew he now had no choice but to explain about the potion and Hisoka's condition.

He briefly wondered if he could _omit_ the fact that he had watched Hisoka eat the salad that had been drenched in the potion but pushed that thought aside as he knew Hisoka would fill Tsuzuki in on the _exact _details of how he had ended up pregnant. Then, there would be no escaping the purple-eyed shinigami's wrath. And if he were even unluckier, which he knew he would be, he might even encounter Tatsumi's icy wrath coming his way over this situation. Better to just fess up right here and now he thought to himself.

"Well, you see, I left a container in the breakroom's fridge about a month ago. I saw Hisoka with it. I...," he paused as Hisoka glared at him.

"You watched me pour it onto my salad! You didn't say anything! You just stood there grinning like a baka while I ate that salad with your stupid potion on it! _And now look at me! _I'm a boy having a baby. A _dead_ boy having a baby! A _dead_ boy trapped in the body of a _sixteen _year old having a baby! Oh kami, how is this even possible?" Hisoka was shaking so badly that Tsuzuki wrapped his arms tightly around the empath trying to calm him down as he noticed Hisoka's hair beginning to fray at the ends as his empathy started to statically charge his hair and clothing. "Watari! I am going to kill you! How could you do this to me?!"

"I'm already dead bon," Watari stated matter-of-factly.

"He's right, he's already dead Soka," Tsuzuki echo'ed. That statement earned him a green eyed death glare and he shut his mouth. Watari decided that the two men needed some time alone to talk privately, so he quickly excused himself, he needed to get away from those piercing green eyes that seemed to want to engulf him in the flames of hell for this situation.

Hisoka sighed, his tears still wetting his pale cheeks. What to do now?

"Tsuzuki? What am I going to do?" Hisoka looked up at his partner.

"It's alright Soka, we'll figure this out. It's alright ok? I'm not leaving you, you're not going to go through this alone. I love you. Nothing is going to change that fact," Tsuzuki told him, quickly laying a chaste kiss on the boy's forehead.

Hisoka wrapped his arms around Tsuzuki. Hoping that everything would really be alright. He was dreading asking his next question. He inhaled, then sharply released his breath. He buried his face in the older man's chest. His arms tightening around Tsuzuki's back.

"Asato, do... do you s-still.. want to m-marry me?" Hisoka felt stupid for having actually put his fear into words. But he had to know. He felt alone, though he knew he wasn't. It didn't help that his body had been so tired and his hormones seemed to be surging out of control like a downed power line.

He shouldn't have asked that question. He might.. no, Tsuzuki wouldn't be angry with him for voicing this question. He would understand the reason why Hisoka needed reassurances. Tsuzuki just looked down at him, all his love shining in his beautiful amethyst colored eyes.

"How can you even ask me that Soka? Of course I still want to marry you. I want to marry you even more now. You're having our baby! We shouldn't be sad about this, maybe a bit annoyed at how this came to be, but, it's still a life that is a part of us both. It's part of the love we have for one another. We should be happy," Tsuzuki sat on the edge of the infirmary bed, his arms coming around Hisoka's smaller frame.

"You want to.. actually keep it?" Hisoka asked softly.

"Yes, I want to keep it. But I will support you in whatever decision you make. It's your body afterall. I'll just tell you how much a baby with you would mean to me. A little Soka-chan would be so cute!" Tsuzuki giggled. Actually giggled at that thought. And Hisoka had to admit, a little Asato-kun would be even better.

"I... guess we're having a baby then," Hisoka stated quietly, pulling his away from Tsuzuki's chest. The older man leaned down to take the boy's mouth with his own. Hisoka sighed against his love. He was scared. He was afterall a boy having a baby, there had to be someone up high with a sick sense of humor to actually throw a curveball of this degree his way.


	5. But I Do Love You

The next few weeks were tiring on Hisoka. While he was was sick (literally) from throwing up every morning, he was annoyed at not being able to sleep completely soundly at night. He was secretly amazed as he realized how his body was slowly changing and filling out. His hips were actually starting to look more curvy and his skin was more sensitive. His hair and nails seemed to be healthier and his emerald eyes were brighter than ever.

The other employees at Ju-Oh-Cho made comments that Hisoka was actually glowing. Though, so far the only people to know about his condition besides himself, Tsuzuki, and Watari, were Konoe and Tatsumi. Hisoka had been remanded to light field duty. Meaning, if there was a chance for danger, he wasn't allowed on the case. This irritated him, but he understood. Though, spending his days filling out reports was becoming tedious to him.

While the pregnancy was affecting Hisoka in various ways, it wasn't exactly leaving Tsuzuki unaffected. He couldn't sleep at night. Hisoka seemed to always be in the mood to make love. It was as if the young empath couldn't get enough. No amount of it seemed to satisfy the boy and Tsuzuki was actually hoping that this phase in the pregnancy wouldn't last too long. Don't get him wrong here, he loved making love to Hisoka, but damn, a man needed some sleep! It's not right to expect him to function on an hour and a half of sleep everynight.

The one time he brought this fact up to Hisoka, the empath had burst into tears. Sobbing that Tsuzuki didn't want him anymore. That he didn't find him attractive. That he would rather sleep- he'd said it like it was a word meaning poison- than be close to his lover. Hisoka had cried and cried that he was sorry he wasn't good enough for Tsuzuki, that he wasn't beautiful. That he was going to get big and Tsuzuki didn't love him anymore and he was carrying their child for kami sake!

Tsuzuki was at a loss on what to do when this happened. He did everything from beg and plead with Hisoka to please stop crying.

"I love you Hisoka! How can you think I don't?" he muttered trying to calm the boy down. Hisoka sat up cross legged on the bed with a pillow in his lap while his hands clutched at the sheets on the bed.

"But, but you don't want me Asato!" Hisoka cried, big tears pooling in his emerald eyes, making them seem like precious gems.

"I do want you baby! I do! I'm just so tired is all. I haven't gotten more than four hours sleep in the past three days," Tsuzuki knew instantly this was the wrong thing to say as Hisoka threw his head back and wailed even harder.

Tsuzuki truly didn't know what to say. It seemed like everytime he opened his mouth these days, he inserted both his feet sideways. It was becoming depressing. He'd eventually coaxed Hisoka into calming down by kissing him passionately on the mouth. Hisoka happily kissed him, pulling him onto him as he laid back onto the mattress. The boy ran his hands through Tsuzuki's hair, moaning into the kiss, he was ready. He was always ready these days. He actually felt guilty for doing this to his lover, but he couldn't help himself. It was like a dam had burst open inside him and he couldn't contain the flood.

Tsuzuki sighed, irritated, as he pushed the memory of that night away. He'd never complained about needing sleep after that. _**Besides, I'm dead, he thought, how much sleep can I possibly need? **_

His heart almost broke with everything Hisoka had said about him not wanting him. He knew the empath was just touchy with the changing of his hormones, but didn't stop Tsuzuki from feeling guilty that it was something he had said to make the boy feel unwanted. He wondered if the female population went through this when they were with child and he suddenly felt a new amount of respect for males amongst the living.

He looked over to the sofa where Hisoka was munching on strawberry pocky. That was odd in itself, since Hisoka didn't like sweets much. But he had wolfed down nearly all of Tsuzuki's sweets from his ice cream to his pocky to his pies. Tsuzuki had just bought that stash the day before and it was almost gone.

"Ne, Asato?" Hisoka asked softly.

"Hmm?"

"We should think of names you know? And possibly go shopping for baby stuff," the boy stated. Tilting his head as though he expected the older male to refuse.

But Tsuzuki thought this would be a great idea. They could spend the day in Chijou. Shopping, maybe have some lunch at one of their favorite cafes.

"That would be a good idea Soka, we can go tomorrow if you like, since it's Saturday and we aren't working," he suggested.

Hisoka crawled over to him and climbed into his lap, nuzzling the man's neck. He sighed happily when he felt Tsuzuki's arms enfold him in an embrace.


	6. A Familiar Face

1The next day, Hisoka woke up and actually felt fine for once. He was surprised when he didn't feel the need to hop out of bed and rush to the bathroom to retch. He looked over at Tsuzuki, who was still sleeping soundly. The man was being so understanding in dealing with Hisoka and his mood swings. The empath leaned over and lightly brushed lips over the older man's mouth.

"Tsuzuki, you need to wake up soon so we can go to Chijou!" Hisoka said happily, leaning to speak into the man's ear.

Tsuzuki shifted in the bed, rolling over onto his side to take Hisoka into his arms, mumbling about wanting a few more minutes of sleep.

"Tsu..zu..ki," the boy sounded out all three syllables of his lover's name trying to get him to wake up, "I thought you wanted to shopping for the baby."

The amethyst eyed shinigami swore within the hazy fog of sleep that hung over his head that he could hear a sob catching in the boy's throat as he added on the last part of that sentence. Not looking forward to a tear-filled start of the day, the shinigami groaned and quickly sat up.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, murmuring, "Morning Soka."

The emerald eye empath smiled sweetly at his love, as he got off the bed to start getting dressed. Rummaging for something comfortable to wear, he tugged on a pair of blue jeans, wincing when he couldn't button them up. He tugged the jeans off and threw them in the hamper.

He narrowed his eyes, sighing. He ran his hands over his belly, feeling the smooth skin that had begun to expand with a baby bump. It was semi-noticeable, just making Hisoka look as though he had a slight pudge going on, but the boy felt as though it were bigger than it actually was.

_**I'm already getting big and I've still got four and a half months to go**_, he thought.

"My jeans don't fit me," Hisoka said quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed. Tsuzuki just looked at him. Maybe this meant they could get some extra sleep in?

"Oh well, I'll just wear a pair of sweat pants to go out and then pick up some looser fitting clothing on Chijou," the boy stated, getting up to dig in his dresser for a pair of sweat pants.

_**There goes that idea**_, Tsuzuki thought to himself, sighing, he was now resigned to his fate. If his little love wanted to go shopping this early, he wasn't going to hold them back. Afterall, he had agreed to this last night.

Besides, how bad could it be? It's not as if they had never been shopping on Chijou before. Though, they would be going baby shopping, it shouldn't be bad. He hadn't imagined the idea of shopping could make the normally hide-from-anywhere-with-crowds empath happy. But Hisoka seemed to be quite excited to go shopping for their baby.

--

An hour later, the two materialized in an deserted alleyway in downtown Chijou. They walked out of the alley, and headed to the mall. Under normal circumstances, Hisoka would have dreaded going into such a crowded place due to the effects the emotions of all the people had on his empathy. But today, he didn't care, he just pulled up his shields as high as they could go and stepped excitedly into the building. He was like a child on Christmas morning, grabbing Tsuzuki's hand, he tugged him into a store that catered exclusively to babies.

Hisoka was mumbling to himself about things they would need. Tsuzuki heard the words 'crib', 'blankets' and some other words he couldn't quite make out. The man was suddenly struck by how adorable and relaxed the boy was, despite being inside a store full of people's emotions. Hisoka's voice dragged Tsuzuki out of his thoughts.

"Ano, Asato, which one do you think is nicer?" the boy asked, holding up two crib carousel's. One had little stars and moons on it and the other had little stuffed animals. Tsuzuki was going to say he liked the stuffed animal carousel more, but seeing as this was the third time Hisoka had asked for his opinion on something, he quickly asked a question of his own.

"Ne, Soka, which one do you like?"

Hisoka tilted his head, and Tsuzuki had to bite back a smile. The boy put down the carousel with the animals on it and put the one with the stars into the cart. He was getting good at this. After what happened earlier when they went to pick out a crib, Tsuzuki didn't want a repeat of his inadvertent mistake.

In fact, the crib incident hadn't turned out all bad, it just let Tsuzuki know how stubborn Hisoka could be when he wanted his way. Sure, the baby was theirs, but it was the empath who had obviously been thinking of the things they needed for it and had already thought up the exact look to how he wanted to make the baby's room. And Tsuzuki really had a feeling that Hisoka was dead set on getting his way in this matter.

:Flashback:

"Hey, Asato, which crib? The white wood mission style or the dark wood sleigh style?" Hisoka had asked.

Tsuzuki didn't much care what kind of wood or look. He was certain the baby wouldn't care either. It would be a comfy place to sleep and babies didn't really take notice of the details their cribs were made of did they?

"I like this one," he had answered, pointing to the dark wood crib. Hisoka had looked up at him, and he had known immediately, that was the wrong choice. Apparently, Hisoka had already made his decision, asking Tsuzuki for his opinion really wasn't necessary, he was just trying to include the older shinigami in these little decisions. He figured the man would just go with whatever the boy chose.

"Ne, Hisoka, you know, I think, since we're painting the room yellow and blue, we should get the white wood crib, don't you think?" Tsuzuki amended. Pregnancy was a whole new territory for him and he just hoped he'd make it out alive.

The empath had smiled broadly at his statement, and said "It really is a beautiful crib." So Tsuzuki had made it to the other side of the road without being struck by oncoming traffic, unfortunately for him, he didn't see the cliff on the other side.

Hisoka exclaimed cheerfully, a small smile on his face as he held up a pair of tiny socks.

"How cute!" He said. Not even realizing he had said the 'c' word and hadn't burst into flames. Tsuzuki was still getting used to these changes in his beloved and found him to be even more beautiful and desirable.

Though, the man could still be kind of dense on some things. He'd been looking through stuffed animals when he had the exclaimation from the boy, and looked over to see what was going on.

"Soka? Don't you think those are a bit small for you?" He had said, and swallowed a lump in his throat as he was assaulted with an emerald glare that he was lucky hadn't singed his hair.

"They're for the baby you baka!" Hisoka had yelled, his pale face flushing as several other shoppers in the store looked over at them. Glaring at Tsuzuki, he grabbed several more pairs of the tiny socks, Hisoka had walked off, leaving a stunned Tsuzuki holding a floppy earred stuffed rabbit with green eyes.

:end flashback:

Ah yes, the joys of pregnancy.

_**Please kami, don't let Hisoka kill me before I've had a chance to see our baby's face**_, he mentally prayed.

Their cart was now full of all kinds of baby things. Tsuzuki hadn't realized just how much a baby could actually need. It was more than he owned himself he thought. But, standing at the checkout, he studied the dreamy expression on Hisoka's face and smiled knowing that this had made his love happy.

Once they paid for their purchases, Tsuzuki had decided he would teleport all the stuff to their apartment, while Hisoka waited in the park outside the shopping center. He'd only be a few minutes so Hisoka agreed, then they could go grab some lunch. The boy was starving, he realized and asked Tsuzuki to try not to be too long. He'd nodded his head as he watched Hisoka walk over and sit on a bench in the park. Once he saw the boy was situated, he quickly looked around making sure no one could see and teleported.

Hisoka was enjoying the light breeze that ruffled his golden brown hair and the sound of the birds from his seat on the park bench. He was happy. He hadn't expected to be this happy when he had found about being pregnant. But he was. His thoughts went to a certain amethyt eyed man and he smiled wistfully to himself. Tsuzuki was so kind and patient and loving, Hisoka couldn't have asked for a better lover.

"Well, fancy meeting you here boy," a sinuous voice spoke to him, breaking Hisoka out of his thoughts. He looked up to see a man standing a few feet away dressed all in white. His platinum hair tossing carelessly in the breeze. Hisoka sucked in a breath and slowly let it out, sending the man a glare.

"What are you doing here?" the boy said, venom in his voice.


	7. A Promise

"Now now boy, is that any way to greet an old friend?" Muraki smirked.

"You're not an old friend you psycho!" Hisoka hissed, standing up from where he was seated to face his adversary.

Muraki's cold gray gaze levelled itself on the empath's face. His eyes narrowing as his gaze moved downward from the boy's eyes to his chest to finally rest on his expanding abdomen.

"Hmm, boy, it seems a...," Muraki was cut off as a furious Tsuzuki ran up to the two men and demanded to know what Muraki was doing there.

"Ah, Tsuzuki-san, you're looking lovelier than ever," they silver haired man said seductively.

"Cut the crap Muraki! What are you doing here?" the shinigami replied. Muraki raised an perfectly arched silver eyebrow at Tsuzuki's tone of voice.

"I was out for a daily stroll when I happened to see the boy sitting here daydreaming," the doctor stated casually.

"Probably scoping out potential victims," Hisoka said nastily. Muraki turned his gaze to the empath, and Hisoka forced himself not to look away. He knew sometimes he should just keep his mouth shut, but it was hard when he was confronted with the evil doctor. He wanted to just lunge at him, instead he just glared at the cool, impassive look the sinister doctor swept over him with.

"You're putting on weight boy. You're not as scrawny as I remember you looking or feeling. Don't you get enough exercise running around for that job of yours?" Muraki snickered as he saw Tsuzuki take a step forward only to be held back when Hisoka reached out to take one of his hands into his.

It was so easy to rile the boy up. He had no desire for the empath anymore, but watching him rise to the bait was oddly satisfying.

"Shut up, you bastard!" the boy yelled, causing a few birds that had been running around pecking the ground for food to suddenly take flight at the sound of his voice. He knew what the doctor was referring to, and he felt his face heat up with anger at the statement.

"Tsk, you shouldn't get yourself so worked up. Anyway, as much as I would love to stay and chat with you my dear Tsuzuki-san, I must be on my way," Muraki stated and walked away, leaving the two shinigami to stare after him.

Now that Muraki was out of sight, Hisoka wasn't feeling so brave anymore. He suddenly thought that maybe the doctor somehow knew he was having a baby and that scared him more than anything that man had ever done to him. He released his hold on Tsuzuki's hand and slumped down onto the bench. His heart beating rapidly. Tsuzuki knelt infront of him and took his hands into his own.

"Soka?" he asked.

"I didn't expect to see him," Hisoka whispered. He was forcing himself to slowly calm down, but it was hard when his heart was caught in his chest as a new fear suddenly wiggled itself into his mind. All the things that the doctor had done to them both pushed their way into his mind. The empath was suddenly terrified something would happen to their baby.

"What if he knows Tsu? What if he knows about the baby? What if he tries something that could hurt it?" the boy continued, his voice strained. He brought one of his hands up to his face to cover his mouth. He was fighting back tears now and Tsuzuki's heart was breaking as he fought to find the right words to say to calm Hisoka down.

Hisoka had always told him not to make promises he couldn't keep. But there was one promise he would die to keep if it meant his love and their baby would be safe. He cleared his throat and spoke softly. Hoping to ease the boy's fears.

"Hisoka, there isn't any way for him to know about it. He just thinks you're putting on weight," he said gently, clasping his hands with his own again, he gave the small hands a gentle squeeze, adding, "Everything will be fine Soka, I promise it will. I won't let anything happen to you or our baby. I would give up my afterlife to make sure you two are safe."

Hisoka whispered "alright," then leaned forward to wrap his arms around Tsuzuki's neck, kissing him softly on the lips. His fear dissipated as he kissed his love. Reluctantly, they pulled apart for air, Hisoka burying his face in the crook of Tsuzuki's neck.

"How about we go get something to eat? It's a little late for lunch, but still too early for dinner and you need to eat to keep up your strength. Besides, I'm starving myself," Tsuzuki said laughing. Hisoka gave him a tiny smile. He was feeling better now after being in his lover's arms. The man could chase away any darkness that threatened to swallow him.

They found a quiet restaurant to have lunch in and just relaxed, chatting about the things they bought today, how work was going. Though Hisoka didn't have to go to work for the next few months, having been put on maternity leave, though, in his case, he supposed it was more paternity leave seeing as he was a boy. Watari had explained that since he was male, that there were major differences in his pregnancy as opposed to a womans.

Since it was also a first, everyone agreed that the dangers of field duty could be detrimental to his and the baby's well being. He still dropped by the office some mornings to help Tsuzuki with paperwork and to keep himself from going stir crazy by sitting at home alone. At first Hisoka had been depressed at not being able to do his job, though he understood the reasoning behind it and even though he didn't want to put their baby in danger, he was still upset that he wouldn't be able to do his job for awhile.

Tsuzuki had cheered him up with a big bowl of vanilla ice cream with hot fudge sauce on it, telling him that they still had the second bedroom that needed to be turned into a nursery for the baby. Hisoka had brightened as he thought about this. Ideas running through his head. He didn't want the baby's room too dark. He wanted their baby to wake up everyday feeling warm and safe, so he'd decided to paint the top half of the room's walls a light yellow while the half under the white wood railing was painted a deep blue.

Of course, Hisoka hadn't painted, the smell of the paint had made caused him to rush to the bathroom having been hit with a nasty case of nausea. So, Watari, Tatsumi and Tsuzuki had painted the room for him. He had been amazed that Tatsumi had volunteered to help paint and when he saw the three men in coveralls holding paintbrushes in their hands, he had burst out laughing. Thinking about it now, his heart warmed at the memory. The people at the Ministry were like his family, and having been shunned by his real family during his time alive, he always thought how truly lucky he was to have found his place in this family once he was dead.


	8. Worth A Million

The rest of the weekend went without any surprises. Sunday, Hisoka sat on the floor beside Tsuzuki who was almost done assembling the crib they had bought. The empath was busy folding all the little blankets they had bought the day before, then putting them into a basket. He would have to wait till Tsuzuki moved the little dresser they had into the room so he could put them away.

"Want to think of some names for the baby Soka-chan?" Tsuzuki said from his place on the floor. He was finally finished with the crib.

"Don't call me that!" Hisoka glared at him, "Do you think we should ask Watari what the gender is before we come up with names or should we just wait and see?"

Tsuzuki tilted his head, thinking. While it would make it easier to finish buying stuff if they knew the baby's gender beforehand, it would probably be more special to wait and be surprised.

"I think we should wait," he replied. Hisoka put the last blanket into the basket, pushing it aside. He crawled into Tsuzuki's lap and wrapped his arms around the older man's neck.

Pressing his lips to Tsuzuki's he sucked on the man's bottom lip, tugging it gently with his teeth. Tsuzuki moaned and brought his hands to rest on Hisoka's hips. When Hisoka's mouth travelled down to his neck, the man pushed the boy to lay back on the floor.

A few hours later, the emerald eyed boy was exhausted. Tsuzuki had made him come twice before releasing himself into the boy and now Hisoka was so limp he didn't think he could walk. His pregnancy seemed to give some new depth of stamina he hadn't been prepared for. The teen yawned and cuddled closer to his lover.

--

Hisoka had decided to go with Tsuzuki to the office a couple weeks later. He needed a check up from Watari, which he was dreading. One reason he was going was so he could have his first ultrasound. Despite that, he figured he would go, have the scientist check him and the baby out, then leave as fast as possible before anything weird or freaky happened while he was so close in proximity to the lab.

They decided to walk to the bureau since Hisoka was feeling rather well and the thought of the morning air sounded refreshing. Upon entering the building, Tsuzuki headed to the breakroom as usual to get a pastry and Hisoka made his way down the hallway to the infirmary.

He had just walked into the lab connecting to the infirmary when a loud shout stopped him, but not in time to have something sticky and green splash over him.

"Watari! _What the hell_!" he yelled, looking down at himself. His eyes narrowed and he clenched his fists.

"Oh! Hey bon!" Watari greeted the boy with his usual cheery demeanor. The scientist was trying to hold back a grin as his eyes swept over the boy who was covered in something that resembled green jello. "Eh, gomen, my new experiment didn't seem to work."

"Your experiments don't ever seem to work you freak," Hisoka told him.

"If I'm not mistaken, you being male and carrying Tsuzuki's baby is proof that one of my experiments worked," Watari reminded him smugly.

"One day, I'm seriously going to succeed in killing you!" the empath glared. Quickly he added, "I'm teleporting home to shower, then I'll be back for my check-up. But you better not do anything else to me or so help you nothing will stop me from hurting you."

--

Hisoka was back at the Ministry an hour later. He stuck his head into the office he shared with Tsuzuki to see his partner filling out paperwork and smiled to himself that the man was actually working instead of his usual goofing off. He quickly walked back to the infirmary, choosing to enter by way of the infirmary's door and not Watari's lab door. Who knew what would happen if he entered into that den of tricks again.

"Welcome back bon, just lay down on one of the beds and I'll have a look alright?" Watari said coming into the room. 003 fluttered over to Hisoka and perched on the boy's shoulder after he was settled on one of the beds.

Watari checked Hisoka's blood pressure, weight, drew some blood, and collected urine, which had made the boy flush shyly when the scientist had told him that part. He obediantly went into the restroom and returned a few moments later.

"So, anything you want to discuss or ask before we do the ultrasound bon?" Watari asked.

"Um, well, I seem to be, um... I seem to always be..." Hisoka started, but blushed and looked away.

Watching the boy turn the color of a ripe tomato, Watari said gently, "You know you can tell me anything you need to right? I'm here to help, so if you have any questions or anything you feel the need to talk about, feel free to just come out with it."

"I seem to be in the mood a lot and I wanted to know if it was, you know, dangerous if Tsuzuki and I are still having, you know," the teen started but flushed again, he lowered his head, letting his bangs hide his eyes.

"No, it's not dangerous, It's quite normal to feel that way bon. You're five months pregnant, so you shouldn't be feeling as exhausted as you were say, two months ago. And you're hormones are in party mode so to speak," Watari explained.

"Oh, okay, Tsuzuki was worried that he would hurt me or the baby. That's really all I had a question about right now," Hisoka said. Watari smiled and nodded.

Seeing as Hisoka didn't look like he was ready to discuss anything else, Watari set up to do an ultrasound. Since it was his first ultrasound, Tsuzuki had insisted that he wanted to be there to see it. They sent 003 with a note to have Tsuzuki come to the infirmary. Who showed up a little bit afterwards with the tiny owl perched on his shoulder.

"Hey baby, time for pictures?" Tsuzuki asked smiling and placing a kiss on Hisoka's lips.

"Uh-huh," the youth replied, gasping as something cold was smeared on his belly. He wrinkled his nose when Watari took a weird looking object in his hands and ran it around in a circle in the gel he's put on Hisoka's belly, smearing it.

"How's it looking Watari?" Tsuzuki asked, taking one of his partner's hands in his own.

"Pretty good. The baby is looking healthy. It's about twenty-two centimeters. Good strong heartbeat. Do you two want to know the gender?" Watari asked.

Hisoka looked up at Tsuzuki who was staring in awe at the monitor that held their baby on it.

"Iie, we want to wait," the older shinigami said, giving his lover's hand a gentle squeeze, which earned him a tiny smile from the boy.

Watari put the machine away after printing out a picture of the baby for the couple, then stepped out of the room. Tsuzuki helped Hisoka clean his belly up, then gently gave the boy a kiss on the mouth before heading back to work.

Hisoka went home. He wanted to take a quick nap, but when he entered the apartment, he sat on the sofa and looked at the black and white paper with the picture on it. He traced a fingertip over the image, as he laid back on the cushions. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Which is how Tsuzuki found him a few hours later. He picked him up bridal style careful not to wake the boy up as he carried him to their bedroom and laid him gently in bed, covering him up with a soft blanket. The shinigami picked up the picture and smiled warmly at his sleeping lover.


	9. Movement In Red

Tsuzuki was watching tv in the living room while Hisoka was in the kitchen getting ready to start dinner a week later when he heard something that sounded like a loud clang come from the room followed by a soft "oh."

Worried, he immediately got up and rushed into the room, stopping by the opening to see Hisoka standing there, one of his hands placed over his abdomen. The boy looked up at him. Noticing the look of worry on the man's handsome face, the teen shook his head.

"Hisoka, you alright?"

"It.. _moved_. I was getting a lid out for the soup when I felt a kick. It.. it startled me," Hisoka told him.

"The baby kicked?" Tsuzuki asked curiously. Hisoka nodded. He wondered how that felt. To have something inside you moving.

"It wasn't hard. It was just.. Asato, it felt, amazing, weird, but amazing," the boy was smiling. His eyes were shining.

"Could.. could I feel it?" the amethyst eyed man walked over to the empath and stood infront of him.

Hisoka turned his face up to him then took one of his hands into his own and placed it on his belly. It seemed as though they stood there forever in that small room waiting, but it was only a matter of minutes when Tsuzuki felt a tiny kick push against his hand.

He gasped and turned his face to look at Hisoka. His purple eyes twitching with wonder. He was awestruck. It was just as Hisoka had said. _Amazing_. This was their baby. Their child. Inside this beautiful boy he loved so much there was this wonderful life that they had made together. He took his palm off his love's belly and wrapped the boy in his arms. He nuzzled his chin into the soft golden brown locks.

"I love you Hisoka Kurosaki," the older shinigami whispered. His little love was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on. And he was his. He tightened his hold on the boy in his arms, projecting all the love and warmth he felt for him.

--

"Ne, Asato, when we get married, do you think I should be called Hisoka Tsuzuki?" Hisoka asked seriously a little later that night.

The two were sitting on the sofa, with Hisoka on Tsuzuki's lap with a book on baby names in his lap. Tsuzuki was running his fingers through the boy's hair when he heard the question.

"Hisoka Tsuzuki, that would be confusing, since everyone calls me by my last name. And everyone still calls you Kurosaki-kun. But, even if they call you Kurosaki, you'll still be a Tsuzuki," the man grinned. Laughing as the teen scrunched up his face, he placed a soft kiss on the boy's mouth.

"Hisoka Kurosaki-Tsuzuki. You know something, I never realized it before, both our last names end in -_ki_," the empath said thoughtfully.

"That just proves we're soulmates," Tsuzuki stated as if this was a proven fact.

"Baka," Hisoka laughed. It was a pleasing sound. It was infact one of his partner's favorite sounds.

"I may be a baka, but I'm a loveable baka!" the man said feigning indignation as he leaned his head down to capture the boy's soft pouty lips.

"That you are," the teen said laughing against his lover's mouth.

--

An hour later Tsuzuki was laying in bed waiting for Hisoka to finish with his bath when he heard something fall in the bathroom. He was just getting out of the bed when the boy ran into the room, tears on his face, his hands on his belly.

"Asato! Something's wrong!" the boy said frantically.

"Soka?" Tsuzuki was worried. Walking over to the boy, who was beginning to tremble uncontrollably, he opened his mouth to ask what when he saw the red spots on the floor that had trailed after the boy when he'd run into the room.

Blood.

Why was Hisoka bleeding?


	10. Daijobou Ka?

To say that Hisoka was frightened couldn't begin to come close to how the boy was feeling when he had looked at the floor in the bathroom. He'd just gotten out of the bathtub and had pulled the long nightshirt he usually wore to bed over his head and was brushing his hair when the brush had slipped out of his hand and fallen to the floor.

Leaning down to pick the brush up, he'd frozen up when he noticed the drops of red on the tiled floor. His eyes widened and his hand had immediately stopped reaching for the brush. He stood there, just staring for what seemed so long to him, but was really just a minute or so, then he'd realized what he was staring at.

He'd yanked open the bathroom door so hard he swore he could have ripped it off it's hinges in his panic. He'd rushed into the bedroom. He said something to Tsuzuki. Wrong. Something. Wrong. Something was wrong. There's blood on the floor.

_Why?_

Tsuzuki had called Watari, hurriedly explaining, then nodding his head, "We'll meet you there in a minute. I'll teleport Hisoka and I into the infirmary."

And he'd done just that after picking the boy up and holding him tightly to his chest. Hisoka had begun crying in fear of what could be wrong and he was slowly working himself up into a panic.

--

There were times when Hisoka's mind couldn't seem to wrap itself around the terrible things that could happen to a person. Even though he'd been a victim of terrible things himself many times before, his mind still somehow managed to shut things of that sort away. As though they were just dust to be swept under a carpet.

Truly horrible things happened, he knew, so maybe, he'd just gotten used to them. Afterall, knowing they happened wouldn't ever stop them occuring now would they? Hisoka knew this. Though in retrospect, knowing this and accepting it were two completely different things to him.

_This **isn't** happening_, his mind said. _It was there, it was there on the floor. You saw it. _

_No, Tsuzuki promised, he said nothing would happen. We would be safe. He promised we would be safe._

_But what is safety? Who can actually promise that and mean it?_

_Asato! Please!_

_Think about this one kiddo. You're a **boy**. You're not **supposed** to have a baby. You **know** that. It's just an anomaly._

_It isn't! It's not.. I want this baby.. Tsuzuki wants this baby._

_Perhaps, it's just your body, your **male** body, that is the one that doesn't want it?_

His mind just screamed. And it wouldn't stop.

_shutupshutupIdonthavetolistentoyouthisisnthappening._

**_--_**

He yelled at Watari.

"You said everything was fine! You said it was okay that we were still.. you told me I was fine! Why am I bleeding?" Hisoka wouldn't stop shouting.

Watari was stunned. The boy was so afraid he was losing the baby he wouldn't calm down. Tsuzuki tried to take him into his arms, but Hisoka just scooted to the other side of the hospital bed. The teen held up his hands to keep Tsuzuki away, he was crying. Somehow, he'd convinced himself a few drops of blood meant his body was rejecting their baby and he was hysterically out of control.

"You promised me you would take care of us! _You promised_!"

He saw Tsuzuki flinch as the words left his mouth. Saw the flash of hurt in the amethyst eyes. Saw him drop his head as he lowered the arms that had been attempting to pull him into an embrace.

"Hisoka, you need to calm down. Please Soka, _calm down_!" And then the world blurred as his arm suddenly stung.

Watari sedated him. They couldn't get Hisoka to calm down and his panicking was causing him to almost hyperventilate. He'd managed to work himself into such a state of panic that they were worried for his and the baby's safety.

--

He could feel heat on the other side of his eyelids. It must be morning he thought. Dimly, he heard voices. He recognized Watari's voice.

"No, it's not an uncommon occurence to bleed a little during pregnancy. From the urine I took from bon the other day, I noticed he has a slight urinary tract infection. Plus, we need to take into account that bon male, so things aren't really going to progress as they normally would if his body was female," the scientist was explaining.

"So, in otherwords, his body is making adjustments and accomadating for the fact that his insides are male?" he heard Tsuzuki ask.

"Exactly. The baby is fine though. He isn't having a miscarriage," Watari said.

"Thank kami for that," his partner replied.

Hisoka could hear the relieved breath Tsuzuki let out as though it had come from himself. He was fine? Their baby was fine? His body wasn't rejecting their child.

Feeling the residing panic fall away from his mind and body, he opened his eyes and let out a sob.

"Soka, you're awake. How do you feel?" Tsuzuki came over to him and sat on the edge of the bed. Hisoka sat up and leaned into him.

"Gomen Asato. I'm sorry I said what I did. I didn't mean it. I was just so scar..." he began but was quickly cut off.

"Shh baby, it's alright. You were scared and you panicked. I'm not, nor was I ever angry with you," the man told him, taking him into his arms and squeezing him gently.

"Gotta love those raging hormones don't you bon?" Watari let out a slight chuckle. That seemed to break the tension that had been hanging in the room.

"Watari, am I really alright? Is the baby really fine?" the empath asked.

"Yes, you're both fine. But I'm going to give you an antibiotic for the infection and that should take care of it. So, go home and get some rest and take it easy alright?" Watari said, adding, "Oh and Hisoka? Your baby is perfectly healthy."

He was relieved. He still felt groggy and he was still ashamed at how he had reacted, but could anyone really blame him? Afterall, there wasn't anything normal about his condition. And when he'd see that blood, his mind had grabbed hold of his unspoken fear that he would end up losing the baby. He thanked Watari as Tsuzuki teleported them both home so they could get some rest.

--

"Get some sleep baby. After the night you just had, you need to rest," Tsuzuki said when they were covered up in bed.

"Gomenasai Asato," Hisoka said, yawning.

"Nani?" the older man asked, confused.

"For my behavior," the teen explained, his voice held a bit of shame in it that Tsuzuki picked up on.

"Hisoka, listen to me okay? Don't apologize for being afraid for our baby. I told you already, I am not angry with you nor was I ever. I would never be upset with you for being frightened of something that is happening to you."

"I know, I just..." the boy began but a finger from the man placed on his lips silenced him.

"Aishiteru Hisoka. Always. Sleep now. Everything will look better after some sleep," Tsuzuki told him, rolling over on his side to take the youth into his arms. Hisoka rested his head on his partner's chest, cuddling closer.

"Aishiteru Asato. Oyasumi love," he whispered back and fell asleep to the steady beating of Tsuzuki's heart next to his ear.


	11. Shinigami Don't Get Sick

Tsuzuki woke up when he felt the bed shaking. They had been asleep for a few hours when he felt the blankets being tugged off him and he was hit with the cold night air. He looked over to see Hisoka trying to push himself into the other side of the bed. He was coughing in his sleep.

"Hisoka, wake up ok?" he said to the boy, turning on his side to look at him.

"Asato?" Hisoka asked groggy, he sat up and immediately started coughing harder.

Switching on the lamp on the nightstand, Tsuzuki frowned as watched the boy coughing, he was now in his sixth month of pregnancy, and they hadn't had anymore frightening occurances happen since the one last month. Putting his hand to the boy's forehead, he pulled it back when he felt the heat coming off it.

"Your head is hot. I'm going to get a thermometer and take your temperature," he told the teen as he got out of bed and headed into the bathroom

Shinigami don't get sick. They seem to be immune from the common cold, but nothing seemed that unusual where the boy was concerned ever since he'd become pregnant. Considering that in itself was unusual, a cold couldn't be expected out of the ordinary. Hisoka was running a fever and he was coughing so hard, he whined that his chest was starting to hurt.

"Itai!" the empath muttered.

"Nani?" Tsuzuki looked down at the boy in concern.

"The baby kicked me hard while I was coughing. I think I woke it up," Hisoka winced as he coughed again.

"I'll go grab you something to drink. Your throat sounds very dry. I'll call Watari in the morning before work to see if there's anything you can take for your fever and cough," the man said as he left the room to get the drink.

Hisoka laid back against the pillows. He shivered and pulled the blankets closer to him. He felt the baby kick him again in protest when he coughed again. Putting a hand on his belly he said softly,

"Itai, baby-chan, you're hurting tousan, please stop," he patted his belly and smiled when the kicking abruptly stopped.

He knew his baby could hear him and he projected warm, loving thoughts to it with his empathy. Feeling the baby moving inside him was still exciting to him, though being kicked as though there was a football game going on inside his belly had hurt like hell.

Tsuzuki had insisted that Hisoka take a bath to try to bring his fever down and despite protests that he hurt too much, the man had stubbornly picked him up and walked into the bathroom, sitting him on the edge of the tub as it filled up.

"Asato, this isn't necessary," the boy said, exasperated.

"I don't know if I can give you anything to reduce the fever. Drinking water isn't helping, even the cool washcloth I put on your forehead didn't bring it down, so this is all I can think of, now get in," Tsuzuki told him.

So, he'd ended up stepping into the tub with Tsuzuki's help. It actually felt good against his skin. He hurt from coughing so much but the water seemed to relieve some of the tension in his muscles. He even protested when he felt Tsuzuki slide his hands under him and lift him out of the tub.

They ended up spending the night with the bedroom light on. Hisoka didn't get very much sleep, he couldn't stop coughing, and nothing he said made the baby stop his kicking in protest of the boy's body shaking with his wracking coughs.

--

In the morning, Tsuzuki called Watari before work to let him know of Hisoka's condition and if there was anything he could take. An hour later, Tsuzuki was fully dressed and showered. He'd just helped settle the empath on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket, with a book tucked in between him and the back of the sofa. After getting some water for the boy, he heard a knock on the door. He strode over to it opening it to see Watari standing there with 003 perched on his shoulder.

Smiling in greeting at Tsuzuki, Watari stepped into the apartment, kicking off his shoes, he said, "I didn't think you'd want to come to work, then have to come back home to give bon something to help his fever and coughing."

"I wouldn't have minded actually, but I appreciate you coming. He's a bit grumpy. He didn't get much sleep last night," the purple eyed man told his friend.

"Ah, that bad huh? Ohayo bon. I brought you something to help," the scientist told the boy as he walked over to the sofa. Pulling out a small vial filled with a red liquid he held it up for the empath and his partner to see.

His green eyes widened as he registered the vial in Watari's fingers. Hisoka coughed, but managed to throw Watari a glare.

"Oh come on, it's just something to help bring the fever down and help with the coughing. I didn't think you would want to take normal cough syrup considering the baby would be exposed to it as well," Watari explained, adding, "So I whipped this up. It's my own version of cough syrup with the side effects.

"I think I would rather die. Again. Than take anything you made in that circus ring you consider a lab," the boy said.

"Hisoka, please don't be difficult. He's only trying to help. Besides, most cough meds can have a drunken side effect to them and we really don't want the baby to suffer from a hangover," Tsuzuki told him, failing to explain that most of the new cough medicines no longer contained alcohol. Hisoka didn't need to know that.

"Fine, give it to me. I don't want to give birth to a drunk infant," the teen held out his hand, and Watari placed the vial into his small hand.

Grimacing at the taste, Hisoka swallowed the whole vial. Then passed it back to Watari. He suddenly felt really sleepy, so he rolled over and curled on his side, placing a hand comfortingly on his belly. He felt a soft punch to his abdomen and smiled. From football player to boxer. Still smiling, the boy fell asleep.

"Well, that was easier than I thought it'd be," Tsuzuki told Watari.

"You know cough meds these days don't con..." Watari began, but stopped when his friend held up a hand.

"I know that. You know that. But do you think, that if _he_ knew that, he would have taken that potion?" Tsuzuki explained, grinning.

Laughing, Watari replied, "Sneaky, very very sneaky."

Tsuzuki laughed and placed a gentle kiss on his sleeping love's lips, rubbing his belly. Locking the apartment door, he and the scientist headed to work.


	12. An Adverse Reaction

The good thing about taking Watari's common cold potion was that Hisoka's fever and cough was gone by the next day. The bad thing was that he wouldn't stop trying to seduce Tsuzuki. The poor shinigami was so exhausted he nearly dropped the phone when he called to beg Tatsumi for the day off. He could barely walk, let alone hold a pen to fill out paperwork.

"Oh, and Tatsumi? Tell Watari I'm going to kill him when I see him tomorrow," the man told the secretary before hanging up.

The receiver hit the cradle just as Hisoka rolled over on top of Tsuzuki once again straddling him. The older man groaned, but the teen leaned down to kiss him, causing the groan to change into a moan. He might have been exhausted, but he was still a man, one who could feel his groan tighten for his little lover just by having the boy smile at him.

And right now the little lover of his was lazily running his tongue over the man's throat in circles, sucking periodically. The boy was making all kinds of moaning sounds in his throat and Tsuzuki couldn't take it anymore, so he grabbed the boy and pulled him down to kiss him full on the lips.

"Asato," Hisoka whimpered, he was trying to shimmy downwards to lick his partner's chest, but the man suddenly sat up, grabbed him by the waist and turned him around, so the teen's back was flush against the man's chest.

"Wha-what are you..." the boy started, but moaned when he felt his lover's member pressing against his entrance.

Hisoka felt the tip enter him and his hands gripped his thighs, his nails digging into his own flesh. He looked down at the crescent shaped marks beading up with blood as the wounds quickly healed. Very slowly, so the empath almost screamed in frustration, Tsuzuki slid his erection into Hisoka's tightness. He watched entranced as the boy threw back his head and moaned his name as he began a steady thrusting in and out of the boy.

"Asato! More, onegai!" Hisoka gasped as Tsuzuki hit his prostate over and over. His body flushing with heat spreading to every nerve ending and cell, he felt as his lover reached around and took one of his small hands. Bringing it to his own erection, Tsuzuki helped him stroke himself down his length and up again.

Hisoka felt as though he would explode into millions of pieces as his body shook and he came, his seed coating his and Tsuzuki's hands. Tsuzuki brought their hands up to his own mouth, slowly slipping one of the boy's fingers into his mouth and sucking on it, only to repeat the process with his remaining fingers. Hisoka moaned as he watched his lover's movements, his head thrown back to rest on the man's shoulder. Tsuzuki moaned as his body shuddered and he came into the boy as he leaned down to capture Hisoka's lips with his own. The youth shivered as he tasted himself on his partner's lips and he gasped as he felt Tsuzuki's semen exploding deep inside him.

The two lay gasping for breath as their heartbeats slowly evened out and they looked at each other smiling. They decided to take a bath together, just lazily soaking in the tub as Tsuzuki washed them both. Hisoka loved taking baths with the man, it was one of the most peaceful times they shared with one another, not counting when the two laid content in bed cuddled up with one another, or lounged on the sofa while Tsuzuki watched tv with the boy curled up in his lap reading a book.

--

"I'm getting big, are you still going to love me when I can't see my feet and need you to help me with my shoes?" Hisoka asked a month later as he stood infront of the full length mirror in a corner of their bedroom.

"Soka, I will love you no matter what, even when you're so old you can't remember where you left them," Tsuzuki said, his eyes twinkling with merriment.

"You know, I won't get that old ne?" the boy retorted.

He watched the older man get up from his seat on the bed and walk over to him from the reflection in the mirror. He watched as he wrapped his arms around his expanding belly and leaned down to rest his head on the boy's shoulder. Laughing as the baby moved underneath his palms, Tsuzuki told him,

"You've always been so beautiful Soka, but now, you're more than just beautiful. You're simply amazing to look at. You're so full of the life of our child growing within you, that I am in awe at the sheer beauty of it all. And I couldn't love you more than I do right at this moment."

These words caused the boy's emerald eyes to well up in tears. He turned in his love's arms and kissed him slowly on the mouth. Projecting all the love he felt for him into this one kiss. Tsuzuki felt as though his heart would burst from the weight of it. He was content to just stand there, holding the boy in his arms as they kissed, feeling their child moving deep within the boy's body.

--

In Hisoka's seventh month, the nursery was finally finished. They'd bought everything they thought they would need. The office threw the boy a baby shower, with everyone insisting since it was the first time anyone had been pregnant in the afterlife.

Their co-workers actually took the news of Hisoka's pregnancy better than the boy had expected, even Terazuma had told him congratulations, which had surprised Tsuzuki, since he and the man hated one another. Though, Terazuma seemed to hold a certain fondness for the young empath even if his effeminate looks had the man staying away from physical contact.

Yuma and Saya had come down from Hokkaido when Wakaba had informed them of the pregnancy. They were beyond thrilled to say the least. And were already planning on dressing the baby up in all kinds of fashionable outfits covered in lace, ribbons and bows. This caused Hisoka to grimace, having been on the receiving end of the pairs creepy obsession with dressing him up as a doll.

"Don't worry baby-chan, I won't let those psycho's get their hands on you. I promise," he told the baby, patting his belly. The baby kicked, in agreement it seemed.

Laying in bed that night, Hisoka was irritated because his belly was too big for him to sleep on his stomach and he was forced to sleep on his back, which caused him to wake up with a backache in the morning, or his side, which he really didn't like.

He tossed and turned trying to get comfortable which caused Tsuzuki to grab him and hold him close to him, cuddling him while rubbing his back to try to relax him enough so the boy could sleep, which would allow the man to sleep as well. This seemed to work, as not long afterwards, the empath fell into a peaceful sleep. Before falling asleep himself, the amethyst eyed shinigami placed a hand on his lover's belly, whispering softly,

"I can't wait to meet you baby-chan." Which earned him a small kick in response. He smiled and fell asleep.


	13. Cake For Ducks

Tsuzuki was just about to dive into the last piece of double chocolate cake, when he noticed Hisoka had come to sit at the table with him. The boy was eyeing the cake, his small pink tongue moving along his lips. Just as Tsuzuki went to take a bite, he heard the boy's soft voice.

"Ne, Asato, you know how much I love you right. I mean, I am having your baby yes?" the teen told him.

The fork halted midway to Tsuzuki's mouth as he turned to look at Hisoka, amethyst meeting emerald. His shoulders slumped as he knew those words had an underlying meaning. It was true too. Hisoka wanted that piece of cake. He was hungry. And it was the only piece left. He wanted it. And he was determined to get it. Even if he had to use everything at his disposal. That cake would be his.

"Ano Soka," Tsuzuki mumbled as he slid the plate with the last remaining piece of cake over to the boy.

Hisoka grinned as he lifted the fork to take a bite. Tsuzuki couldn't watch as the cake slowly disappeared so he hung his head. He felt Hisoka slide into his lap and lifted his head to see what was going on. The boy was holding a forkful of the cake up to Tsuzuki's mouth.

"I really do love you Asato," Hisoka said, pushing the fork closer so Tsuzuki could take it into his mouth.

"Arigato Soka. I love you as well," the man said and gave the boy a deep kiss that tasted like chocolate.

--

"Unnn, I can't fit into my shoes. I'm huge and I think I will never be able to fit into my clothing again," Hisoka whined as he threw one of his shoes on the floor in frustration. Pouting, he leaned back into the sofa cushions.

He was eight and a half months pregnant and he was so very uncomfortable. He hated to walk anywhere because he no longer walked, he waddled. Like a duck and it annoyed him. Plus, he felt like the superbowl combined with the nba had taken up residence inside him.

"You're beautiful Soka-chan," Tsuzuki said from his place on the sofa.

The boy looked at him as though he'd grown two heads, but refused to comment. He might be beautiful, according to his partner, but he knew he looked like a penguin. Or at the very least, walked like one. It was unbearably uncomfortable. He could no longer find any comfortable position. He couldn't sleep unless he relaxed in a warm bath followed by one of Tsuzuki's heavenly massages, and even then, he would wake up several times during the night. He was exhausted and he couldn't wait to give birth.

Well, he could wait, since he didn't have the anatomy to actually 'give birth' the normal way. Watari told him he'd need a c-section and he was sort of scared of that. Though, he was excited as well. He'd see their baby soon and he could hardly wait.

--

In the beginning of Hisoka's ninth month, he went into labor. Tsuzuki was at work, and the boy had suddenly felt as though his stomach was going to slice in half. It seemed to be tightening and relaxing as though it were a rubber band. He had been taking a nap in the bedroom when all this started. There was a slight painful feeling that at first didn't hurt too much, infact, he'd thought perhaps he was just sleeping in an awkward position. Since he'd entered his eigth month, his belly had expanded so big he couldn't ever get comfortable.

But then he gasped as he felt the worst pain in his life hit him. It felt as though the baby was trying to push it's way out of him. Which, is exactly what the baby was trying to do. Since Hisoka isn't a female, there was no where to push out of. After the first wave of pain was over, the boy got out of bed and reached for the phone just as he felt something warm rush down his legs from behind. He gasped as he looked down to see his thighs coated in a pinkish watery looking substance.

Hisoka knew it wasn't water though, but he knew that it was tinged with blood. As he tried reaching for the phone again, he was hit with another contraction that brought tears to his eyes. He was mentally praying that the baby wouldn't split him in half, even a shinigami wouldn't be able to heal that much damage, so, on the verge of panicking, he teleported himself to the Ministry, directly into his and Tsuzuki's office.

The amethyst eyed shinigami wasn't in the office, and Hisoka was just about to go try looking for him, when he felt another contraction.

_Kami-sama! This is the worst thing I've ever felt!_ his said in his mind.

He gripped the edge of his desk, clenching his teeth in pain when Tsuzuki entered the office. He was surprised to see Hisoka there, his face lit up in a brilliant smile and he started to walk over to the boy when he saw his scrunched up in pain, his emerald eyes fighting back tears and holding onto the desk with a death grip.

"Soka, what's wrong?" he asked the teen.

"Baby.. hurts.. " Hisoka couldn't seem to talk as his body was in so much pain at that moment, so he just said whatever came to mind. He was thankful that the man understood.

He felt himself lifted into his partner's strong arms as Tsuzuki carried the him out of the office and headed towards the infirmary and Watari.


	14. Okaeri Babychan

"You're definitely in labor bon. You're going to need a c-section to have the baby since you're male, as I explained to you last month. And since you want to be awake for the birth, I'll give you an epidurel to numb you from the waist down, alright?" Watari said to him.

"Hai, I won't feel any pain? Will the baby be alright with that?" Hisoka asked, he looked at Tsuzuki, who was holding one of his hands as he felt another contraction. He squeezed Tsuzuki's hand so hard the man actually yelped in surprise and pain.

"Yes, everything should be alright, don't worry," Watari told him, wincing as watched as Tsuzuki's eyes widened the more Hisoka squeezed the poor man's hand in a death grip.

"uuuhhh,_ itai_!" Tsuzuki ground out.

Hisoka glared at him after the contraction ended.

"This is your fault! Don't ever touch me again! I don't care how good it felt, if this is the result, I'm not letting you come near me! I feel like I'm dying all over again!" the empath screeched. "_Itai_! _Itai dammit_!" he yelled as another contraction hit him.

Watari snickered. He looked over at Tsuzuki, who didn't seem phased by the boy's words. He'd explained that this might happen at work one day when the man had asked what to expect during labor.

He'd told him Hisoka would most likely tell him he hated him, blame him for all the pain he'd feel, and insist he wouldn't ever let him touch again. When Tsuzuki had grimaced, Watari had laughed and said, "Just ignore it all and be happy it's not happening to you."

--

After administering the epidural, Hisoka seemed to relax a lot, though when he looked up and saw Watari's eyes filled with worry, he tensed up again and asked what was wrong.

"I am going to start the c-section now alright bon? The baby's heartbeat seems to be a little erratic and I'm concerned about it's oxygen supply, so you just stay calm and soon you'll have a beautiful baby," Watari told him.

Hisoka didn't feel anything when Watari cut into him, he just kept watching Tsuzuki who was sitting next to his bedside whispering how much he loved him and telling him how beautiful he knew their baby would be. The boy just smiled a little and tried not to fall asleep. He was so tired from all contractions and activity.

The numbness in the lower part of his body had made his mind realize just how much sleep he hadn't had during the last month and a half. Now he was struggling to stay awake. But now that their baby was about to be born, he refused to sleep, he didn't care how sleepy he was.

"Bon, Tsuzuki, you have a beautiful baby boy!" Watari exclaimed happily, holding their son up for them to see.

"A boy? He didn't cry at all, is he alright?" Hisoka murmered. It was true. The baby hadn't made any noise since Watari had lifted him out and suctioned it's mouth. He just squirmed a little, but that was all.

"Yes, a baby boy. He's got all ten fingers and toes. I'm going to clean him up and then you can hold him alright? I just want to check his vitals and make sure he's alright," the scientist told them.

He knew they were eager to see their son, and he hurriedly cleaned the baby up and checked his vital signs. Making sure the baby was alright, he told the happy parents that the baby was fine, then he handed the little boy to Tsuzuki, who had appeared by the man's side. The amethyst eyed shinigami looked nervous as Watari placed the baby, now wrapped in a soft blanket, into his hands.

"Asato, let me see him," Hisoka said from his bed. He had dreamed about this moment for months and now that it was here, he couldn't wait to hold his baby.

Tsuzuki walked over with the tiny bundle, gently placing their son into Hisoka's waiting arms, he smiled down at the pair. Hisoka smiled as tears fell down his cheeks as he inspected their son.

"He's beautiful Soka, just like you," Tsuzuki said softly, marvelling at the teen holding their baby close to his chest.

"He looks like you Asato, he's got your hair and your nose, he's like a tiny version of you," the boy said. They hadn't seen the baby's eyes yet as the tiny bundle refused to open them. The couple couldn't stop smiling, and Tsuzuki kept leaning down to plant kisses on Hisoka's forehead and lips.

There was a noise outside the infirmary that sounded like voices. Lots of voices. Hisoka winced and the baby suddenly scrunched up his face and opened his eyes, revealing two beautiful purple colored irises. The exact shade of Tsuzuki's.

"I think the rest of the staff is eager to know what the baby is and how bon is doing. I'll go fill them in," Watari said, he to walk towards the door to hallway. As he opened the door, he added, "Ne, Tsuzuki, looks as though you're not the only one with that color eyes anymore."

"Aa, looks that way," the amethyst eyed man said, a brilliant grin on his handsome face, adding, "He's beautiful Soka, arigato for our son."

He leaned down to kiss the boy on the forehead, then on the lips, when he pulled back, he saw that the boy had fallen asleep, their son cradled in his arms, close to his heart.

--

"So, have you two picked out a name?" Watari asked Hisoka the next morning.

Hisoka had to stay in the infirmary for a few days to make sure he was healing well enough after his c-section, but Watari had promised he was, so he was going to let him go home in a day or so.

"Aa, we picked one out last night. His name is Daisuke," the boy replied. He was feeding the baby, smiling down at the little boy.

The scientist smiled as 003 flew off his shoulder to fly over to Hisoka. The tiny owl landed on the teen's shoulder and peered down at the baby, who was happily sucking from his bottle of formula. The baby pulled his mouth from the bottle and smiled when the owl cooed at him.

"Watari, I thought babies didn't smile so soon?" Hisoka asked him.

"They don't, why?"

"Dai-chan just smiled at your owl," the teen told him, trying to get the baby to continue drinking from the bottle, but the little boy refused to. His purple eyes blinking at the owl on his parent's shoulder. Watari walked over and noticed the tiny smile on the baby's lips.

"Well, he's just more special than most babies," Watari said, making the youth nod his head in agreement.

They weren't the least bit biased.


	15. A Giggling Obi

Hisoka was very happy when he was released from the infirmary three days later. Watari had lectured him on getting enough rest, allowing himself time to heal, no intercourse until he was fully healed and to call him if anything out of the ordinary happened. Or if they had any questions they needed to ask.

The boy was just glad to be home. Laying the Daisuke in the basinette they'd bought and placed in their bedroom, Hisoka sighed wearily. He was so tired. There had been an almost non-stop stream of people visiting him during his stay in the infirmary. He was happy they all cared so much about him and the baby, but he was just so exhausted now. He laid on the bed and thought about their son.

It worried him a little that Daisuke didn't seem to cry unless there were too many people around or if one of his parents were holding him and they felt something too intense. Like sudden sadness or happiness. The baby would blink his purple eyes, so like Tsuzuki's, and then cry or coo.

Watari mentioned that the baby might have inherited Hisoka's empathy, but it was too soon to tell. Hisoka told Tsuzuki what the scientist had said and promised that if their baby showed signs of being an empath, Daisuke would have two parents that loved him more than anything and would be there to help him with it. Unlike Hisoka, who's own parents had locked him away in a basement because they were afraid of him ability to know their deepest feelings.

--

They had to baby proof their apartment when Daisuke started learning to crawl, and consequently started to walk so he wouldn't hurt himself. He was a happy baby, only crying occasionally when he or others around him became upset. He laughed a lot and that made his parents smile, knowing their baby felt happy and loved.

When Daisuke was seven months old, he was sitting in the kitchen on the floor while Hisoka washed dishes and Tsuzuki dried them. A glass slipped out of Tsuzuki's fingers and smashed into pieces on the floor. Before they could grab the baby, he'd managed to grab ahold of a piece of broken glass and had sliced his leg. He whined and dropped the glass, as his parents stared in shock as the wound healed.

Hisoka picked up the baby checking his leg and hand for cuts. There was nothing there. Tsuzuki looked at his partner in surprise. Their baby could heal.

"He not only looks exactly like you, he has your regenerative abilities as well," the teen said, hugging the baby close to him.

"So it seems. And Watari said to keep watching him to see if he inherited your empathy," Tsuzuki said, holding out a finger to the baby, who grabbed it and giggled at his father.

Hisoka was dead set against being called 'mommy,' so they'd decided that that they would have Daisuke call Tsuzuki daddy, and Hisoka tousan. Which both meant pretty much the same thing, but it was less confusing then having their son calling them both daddy.

The baby's first word wasn't just one word, it was two. Sitting in the office with Daisuke on his lap Tsuzuki had been eating a piece of apple pie, while Hisoka filled out some paperwork, when the little boy had yelled,

"Daddy cake!" Daisuke giggled and pointed to the pie Tsuzuki was eating.

Up until that day, the child had refused to speak, they'd tried to get him to him to talk by saying words to him to get him to repeat them, but he seemed to refuse to want to talk. Watari told them that sometimes babies just don't feel like talking, that it was normal, and to just relax. The baby would talk when he wanted to.

Hisoka looked up, startled at his son's voice. It was a sweet, little voice that sounded happy.

Tsuzuki laughed and said, "Well, that confirms it, he's definitely mine."

"Oh? You had doubts?" Hisoka's eyebrow raised, teasingly.

"Of course not Soka-chan," Tsuzuki replied, laughing, causing Daisuke to giggle happily at his parents.

Hisoka got up from the desk and took the baby from his lover, holding in his arms as the baby grinned and tried to grab for the pie. The empath just sighed and picked up a tiny piece of it and held it up to his son's mouth. The baby held up his arms and laughed as he ate the piece Hisoka held up for him.

--

They decided when Daisuke turned a year old, to actually start making plans for their wedding. Between their jobs, taking care of Daisuke, and finding time for themselves, it took them five months to plan the wedding. They wanted a simple ceremony. And were surprised when Tatsumi suggested they hold the wedding and reception in the Sakura tree grove outside the Ministry.

They would both wear white silk kimonos, with obi's in the color's of each other eyes. So, Hisoka's obi would be deep purple, and Tsuzuki's would be emerald green. They dressed their son in a white silk kimono matching theirs, though his had an green dragon printed on the back. The dragon's curled up over the left shoulder and stared out with blazing amethyst colored eyes.

Hisoka was extremely nervous and Watari had to keep trying to stop the boy from clenching his hands in fists into his kimono.

"Where's my obi? I hope I didn't leave it at home," the boy said, frantically.

_Please kami-sami, let this day go smoothly_, he silently prayed.

"Your son is playing with it," Watari told him.

The empath looked over at his son sitting in a corner of his office, where Hisoka had been relagated to get ready for the wedding. The baby was entwined in the purple silk obi. He was picking up one of the edges and letting it go, giggling as it fluttered in the air back to the floor.

Hisoka went to him, kneeling down infront of the little boy, he said, "tousan needs that please Dai-chan," as he gently unwrapped the cloth from around his son, who blinked up at him with his huge amethyst eyes.

"I still can't get how exact he and Tsuzuki look," Watari told him, picking up the baby, who clutched his neck with his little hands. He would hold Daisuke during the ceremony so the baby could watch his parents.

"I know, it's amazing. He acts like him too. It's like living with two Tsuzuki's," Hisoka replied, a small nervous smile on his lips. Making quick progess with his obi, he added, "Well, seeing as I'm ready, I have a wedding to attend and a man I love to marry."

Watari smiled and the three walked out of the office.


	16. An Afterlife Worth Living

It really was a beautiful ceremony. White chairs were lined up in rows under the sakura trees and there was even a canopy where Tsuzuki and Hisoka would stand infront of Wakaba, who was presiding over the ceremony, to exchange their vows and pledge their love to one another.

Tsuzuki and Hisoka walked down the aisle together. Their hands clasped, their eyes sparkling with happiness. They came to a stop infront of Wakaba and laughed with everyone else as they heard their son shout from his seat in Watari's lap.

"Daddy! Tousan!" Daisuke clapped happily, pointing to his parents.

Watari held a finger over his lips for the little boy to be quiet so his parents could get married. The little boy giggled happily but didn't say anything else for the rest of the ceremony.

"Friends, we have been invited here today to share with Asato and Hisoka a very important moment in their lives. In the years they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they have decided to live their lives together bonded as one," Wakaba said softly, her soft voice ringing out clearly so everyone could hear her words.

"Asato and Hisoka have a few words they would like to say to one another."

Tsuzuki looked at Hisoka, his amethyst eyes shining with love. He smiled as he took the boy's hands into his own and squeezed gently as he cleared his throat and said,

"Hisoka, you are my best friend. My partner. My lover. My soulmate. You have given me so much. Your friendship, trust, love, our beautiful son. Today I give myself to you in marriage. I promise to encourage and inspire you, to laugh with you, and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggle.

I promise to be your strength when you feel weak. I promise to love you when life seems easy and when it seems hard, when our love is simple, and when it is an effort. I promise to cherish you, and to always hold you in highest regard. I love you Hisoka and I always will. I bind myself to you for all eternity and beyond."

Hisoka had tears shining in his bright emerald eyes as Tsuzuki released his hands and slid a slim white gold ring onto his ring finger. He tried blinking them back but as he said his vows to the only man he would ever love, they slipped down his beautiful face.

Tsuzuki watched his love, tears appearing in his eyes as well at the emotion that shook the empath's voice as he looked at him with love shining in those incredible green eyes.

"Asato, words cannot possibly describe how much you mean to me. How much I love you. But from this day forward I promise you these things. You have taught me how to love, how to laugh, even how to cry and I will be forever thankful to have been blessed to have you in my life. I will laugh with you in times of joy and comfort you in times of sorrow. I will share in your dreams, and support you as you strive to achieve them.

I will listen to you with compassion and understanding, and speak to you with encouragement. I promise to love and cherish you through whatever our life together may bring. You are my best friend and so much more than that and I will love and respect you always. I will always be by your side. Here now, to eternity and beyond."

When Hisoka was finished saying his vows, he slipped the slim band onto Tsuzuki's finger. His hands were shaking so much that Tsuzuki leaned over to kiss him on the forehead, whispering "I love you." They turned their heads to look at Wakaba as she turned around to take hold of the ornately carved dagger she had set on the table behind her. Looking at the two men infront of her, she held the dagger in her hand and smiled at the two shinigami.

Wakaba took Tsuzuki's outstretched palm and brought the dagger to his flesh, quickly making a slash into the skin, then repeated the action with one Hisoka's palms. The two men brought their hands up and pressed their bleeding palms together quickly before they healed.

"May this couple be blessed with an abundance of resources and comforts, and be helpful to one another in all ways. May they be strong and complement one another. May they be blessed with a happy family life. May they live in perfect harmony, true to their values and promises. May they always be the best of friends. May they be eternally happy. May the Gods smile down upon these two and bless them always," Wakaba said. Smiling she quietly added, "You may kiss each other now."

Tsuzuki had a huge grin on his face as he pulled Hisoka into his arms and joined their lips together. Hisoka almost melted on the spot, but caught himself when he heard a small giggle and felt a tiny hand tug onto his kimono. Smiling, he pulled his mouth away from his husbands and looked down at their son, who's brilliant amethyst eyes were shining brightly up at them.

"Cake! Now! Tousan! Daddy!" Daisuke shouted, lifting his arms to be picked up.

"Yes, cake, now," Tsuzuki replied, laughing as he leaned down to pick up the little boy. "And then I am going to dance with the love of my afterlife," he added, earning him a blush from Hisoka.

--

Hisoka looked over at his husband who was happily holding their son on his knee as Tsuzuki was eating a huge piece of wedding cake. The baby giggled happily then yelled "CAKE!!" and reached for his father's piece, squishing his little fingers into it. Tsuzuki laughed as Daisuke smeared his face with the cake while shoving his fingers into his mouth. Hisoka had to smile at the sight the two made.

Their son was covered in icing. It was everywhere, he had even managed to get it into his dark brown hair, so like Tsuzuki's chestnut colored hair. The little boy's amethyst eyes sparkled with merriment as he giggled and smeared cake over his father's face. He really was a perfect miniature version of Tsuzuki.

"Ano Dai-chan.. daddy's all messy now," Tsuzuki grinned at their son, laughing along as the baby squealed in delight at the cake covered face of his father.

Hisoka walked over to the two people he loved most. Picking up their son, he smiled when the child tugged on his hair happily yelling "Tousan! Tousan!"

He held Daisuke in his arms as Tsuzuki wiped the cake from his face with a napkin, then he slid into his husband's lap. Tsuzuki wrapped his arms around them. Hisoka leaned his head back against the older shinigami's shoulder content to just sit there with the man he loved and the beautiful little boy that was their child.

Tsuzuki nuzzled Hisoka's soft hair, whispering, "Looks like he fell asleep."

"Ah, he's going to need a serious bath, but somehow I don't think we'll manage that tonight without him waking up. I'll clean him up later. He's had a pretty eventful day, I'll go lay him down in his playpen," the empath replied.

Hisoka thought it had been a good idea when Tatsumi had suggested setting up the child's playpen under one of the trees to keep the little boy out of mischief while the adults danced and chatted during the reception. As Hisoka carefully laid the boy down, covering him up with a soft blanket, he was caught up in two strong arms slipping around his waist.

"Dance with me Soka," Tsuzuki whispered to him.

Hisoka turned around in his arms, Tsuzuki leaned down to kiss him softly then led him to the area they had set up for dancing. The emerald eyed teen wound his arms around his husband's neck as they swayed to the soft sounds of the music.

Tsuzuki glanced at their friends and co-workers as he danced with Hisoka. Wakaba was dancing with Count, which was kind of creepy looking considering the man was only a mask and gloves. The Gushoshin were dancing together. Watari was trying his best to get an unwilling Tatsumi to dance with him. Terazuma kept sending glares the Count's way. Saya and Yuma were laughing as a drunk Konoe started telling obscene jokes. Some of Tsuzuki's shiki had attended the wedding. Byakko was merrily stuffing his face full of cake, while Suzaku was endulging in the sake.

Feeling Hisoka press closer to him, he looked down at his little love, his eyes smiling and full of love. The boy pressed his face to the man's chest. Seeing and feeling no one but the two of them in this space. Hisoka thought over his life and death. He thought about the events leading up to this moment and he smiled.

Some people wish that their lives could have turned out differently. That perhaps doing something different would have led them to a better outcome. That making different choices could have changed the outcome. But for Hisoka Kurosaki he knew that if given a choice to have things in his life turn out differently than they had, he would choose for things to stay the same. Even the most painful aspects had helped shape who he was.

Everything he had experienced had led him here. To this group of people who he considered his family. To this wonderful amethyst eyed man that was now his husband. To this place he called home.

No, Hisoka wouldn't wish to have anything that had occured in his life or death to be changed. That would just change who he had become. And knowing he was right where he wanted to be, he knew, it had all been necessary to lead him here.

Tatsumi suddenly appeared by their side with a squirming Daisuke in his arms. Hisoka took the little boy and held the child between him and Tsuzuki. His husband. Their son. Yes, it had been worth it to end up right here were he had always belonged. This, he thought smiling up at the two angels he loved more than anything, was an afterlife worth living.


End file.
